Police officer flips patrol car in Cedar Rapids

No one was hurt when a Cedar Rapids police officer flipped his patrol car onto its top in a residential neighborhood early Sunday morning.

Officer Ben Wery, 27, was headed toward Mount Vernon Road SE around 1:45 a.m. in an attempt to find a suspect in a harassment case that had left in a vehicle, according to Sgt. Cristy Hamblin.

Wery was southbound on 34th Street SE when he came over a hill to the intersection of Bever Avenue SE. In an attempt to avoid a vehicle stopped at the stop sign, Wery swerved to the left and the patrol car went up the embankment and flipped over, according to the police report. No other vehicles were struck.

About an hour before the crash, officers responded to a harassment complaint in the 300 block of 27th Street Drive SE. A woman at a residence told them a man had made threatening statements toward her. Officers noted the man's name, and were looking in the area for his sport-utility vehicle when they saw it drive through the victim's yard.

Officer Wery joined in the ensuing chase, as the SUV zoomed down First Avenue East and turned south onto 19th Street SE. Officers lost sight of the vehicle as it went east on Bever Avenue and then turned on 34th Street SE.

A short time later, officers spotted the SUV on Mount Vernon Road SE. Wery was trying to respond from the north when he crashed, Hamblin said.

Other officers followed the suspect east on Mount Vernon Road SE, as the SUV topped 100 mph, police said. Because police knew the name of the suspect and the chase was heading out of the city limits, commanders decided to stop the pursuit, Hamblin said.

Hamblin said Officer Wery's crash will be investigated internally, as is standard procedure for all officer-involved crashes, to determine if any disciplinary action is warranted. Hamblin was unsure if the patrol car would be repaired.